Ourika Valley Waterfalls

My colleague rented a car and invited us to Ourika Valley, a mountain getaway 45 minutes south of Marrakech. The deep valleys and crisp mountain air gave us our first taste of autumn. The hike up to the waterfalls was a reminder of how much exercise I had NOT been doing, but eventually we reached our destination and had a chance to rest next to a big pool of refreshing mountain water.

For our descent, our guide recommended that we go further UP the mountain to get back down! We dismissed any doubts we had about our physical fitness and forged onward. Our guide was right and we were sorry we ever doubted him. The views of the surrounding Atlas mountains were breathtaking and we even saw monkeys on the rocks across from us.



We made it back to our starting point along the river and had a tajine lunch. We could feel the cold air blowing, and for the first time since we got here, we wished we had our sweaters.

On the way back, we each bought a basket of small, dark pink fruit with soft yellow spikes. Before we determined if they were safe to eat, I had eaten 4 or 5 of them. They were yummy, sweet, and I didn't pass out, so everyone else ate theirs, too.

We ended our trip with a drive through the medina. Keep in mind that there are scooters, horse-drawn carriages, mule-driven carts, pedestrians, cars, buses, skaters, policemen and taxis all buzzing around. My colleague only stalled the car once and made it safely through the streets of the city, making lefts out of parking lots and even making a U-turn on a busy street to find a parking spot in front of the car rental place. What an adventure!